„an. 81, 1884.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



9 



as nearly all the hands into which the hunting rifle ever find's 

 re extremely ordinary (in respect to care and skill 

 in Mich matters), the question of the superiority of the 

 breechloader even for accuracy seems settled in its favor. 



While on this subject I will give my method of getting 

 muzzleloading accuracy from a breechloader, without uskm 

 a ramrod, so that those", who, like Major Merrill and myself, 

 admire supreme accuracy, may not feel that a screw breech 

 pin is essential. This ma} 7 not work with all rifles, but in 

 those in which I have tried it the shooting is absolutely 

 perfect. 



Take a new and cleau shell and cut a hole through the 

 rear; but leaving the rim intact so that it can be readily ex- 

 tracted. Into the muzzle of this empty shell patch and 

 insert any ball, round or long, just as you would into the 

 muzzle of a muzzleiot'der. and put it into the gun. Then 

 make a small ramrod half an inch or s« longer than the 

 shell, having a shoulder that, will not allow it to pass beyond 

 the mouth of the shell. With this ramrod push the bullet 

 out of tin- shell into the grooves. Then pull out the shell 

 and insert one loaded with powder and wad. If properly 

 done this leaves ball and patch in exactly the same condition 

 as if pushed down from the muzzle aud'left iu the grooves, 

 the sole cause of the muzzleloader's accuracy. You need 

 have no fears of "air space" as it would iu any event be too 

 tririing for injury. The same care in fitting ball and patch 

 must be observed here that is necessary for any muzzleloader, 

 and if the powder is forming dry hard dirt, the lower part of 

 of the grooves should be wiped for two or three inches. In 

 this way a rifle may be loaded more quickly than with a 

 ramrod, and it. can be done iu the field whenever there is no 

 Uore powder may also in this way be used, and by 

 pushing the ball still further into the barrel and inserting a 

 paper cartridge of powder in front of the shell, express charges 

 of any desired size may be speedily loaded. 



The safety of repeaters I judge of as of the safety of all 

 other guns. ' I never heard of au accident with any repeater 

 that must be closed tight before it can be fired, as the later 

 models of the Winchester must he. Excessive recoil might 

 explode, a cartridge in the magazine, but there need be no 

 such recoil if we can only get clear of the idea that a rifle 

 needs a bullet at least an inch long. It is length of lead that 

 makes recoil. The repeaters have, no doubt/ been tested at 

 the factory with vastly heavier charges than they are ever 

 called upon to stand, and if the danger were at all real we 

 should before this have been furnished with some positive 

 proof of it. Any kind of rifle is liable to burst. Within a 

 mile of where I am writing a Remington rifle with a factory 

 partridge hurst, a few years since, in the bands of one of 

 my friends, blowing the barrel to pieces at the breech and 

 nearly taking his head off. The rifle can be seen to-day in 

 San Diego. "There is no absolute safety with any kind of a 

 gun light enough to tire from the shoulder. Judging from 

 the number of repeaters iu use, the length of time they have 

 been in use and the trifling number of accidents we can hear 

 of, I do not see any evidence that the action is not as safe as 

 that of any of our double rifles or shotguns. Undoubtedly the 

 Sharps action is stronger, but if the Winchester is strong 

 enough it is better. It may be said that in a gun nothing is 

 strong enough if it can be stronger. If you say— just 

 as well be stronger — I agree. But no one prefers Sharps 

 action for a shotgun because its additional safety is handi 

 capped with clumsiness. We all prefer a weaker action 

 because we deem it strong enough and much neater. If 

 the Winchester could just as easily be made stronger I 

 would prefer it so. But if additional clumsiness is to be the 

 price of the extra safety, then I say it is now strong enough; 

 by strong enough I mean for short bullets. I once had an 

 old musket barrel that 1 tried to burst by increasing the 

 powder charge. Even four ounces of powder behind an 

 ounce of lead failed to shake it. Then I tried four bullets 

 with about half an ounce of powder, and 1 never found any- 

 thing but the forward end of the barrel. I have shot a 

 double charge of powder in both the Winchester express and 

 .45-60 — loading as above described — and am not in the least 

 afraid of them. With twice the weight of lead in them I 

 should be shy of even 100 grains of powder. Five hundred 

 grains of lead makes a very long bullet for a .40-caliber, and 

 is about equal to five round bullet of the same caliber. A 

 round ball in a 16-bore shotgun corresponds. 



In a 16-bore shotgun the round ball weighs the same as au 

 ounce of shot. Five times that amount of shot would soon 

 use up the gun, even with a small charge of powder, and 

 with a heavy charge would be apt to burst it. It is not 

 probable that such a gun of ten pounds weight or under 

 would be safe with five ounces of shot, with one-fourth of au 

 ounce of powder behind it. And it is quite certain that no 

 shoulder could endure it. This is a powder and lead propor- 

 tion of only one to twenty and yet there is too much powder. 

 And comparing it with other loads, we may find that the 

 strain upon the gun follows increase of lead in more than 

 geometrical ratio. 



It is true that the rifle is much stronger than the shotgun. 

 But it is no less true that whatever element of danger there 

 may be is increased in almost the same proportion by increase 

 of length in the ball. 



There are other reasons, however, why I think the proposed 

 500-grain ball too heavy. 



First— It will be entirely too slow and cannot be given a 

 high velocity. 



Second— It may give such recoil, as to cause irregularity of 

 shooting as the balance of the gun becomes changed by emp- 

 tying the magazine. 



The evils of low velocity are generally unnoticed except 

 by trial. Take a Winchester .44-40-200, and sight it with 

 globe sights to the center of an inch bullseye at 30 yards. 

 Then fire it with the same sight at 100 yards and you will 

 find the ball somewhere about nine inches below the mark. 

 With such a rifle how much small game can you hit even 

 between 50 and 150 yards without knowing its distance 

 and changing the sighting accordingly? And if the varia- 

 tion will bother one on small game, Why not on big game, 

 when it. is necessary to hit it in exact spots with solid balls, 

 and always advisable to do so with any expansive ball? Sup- 

 pose now the fall of nine inches at 100 yards could, by in- 

 crease of speed in the ball, be i educed to two inches. Do 

 you see any greater improvement that could be made in the 

 rifle? 



The alteration of the ball's course by recoil is unsuspected 

 by many. I treated this question thoroughly in these 

 columns some six years ago. Suffice it now to say that if 

 there be any considerable recoil about the rifle the ball will 

 not leave it on the line of the axis of the bore formed at the 

 time of pulling the trigger. It will be thrown off to one 

 side in double rifles, and downward generally in single rifles 

 —always downward if the barrel be long. In good rifles 

 this deflection by recoil is so regular that the accuracy is not 



impaired in the least, although the rifle may be pointed so 

 far off the mark that you cannot see it by looking through 

 the bore when aimed for firing. It is scarcely necessary to 

 add that where recoil is sufficient to require the axis of the 

 bore to be turned off the mark— as would almost certainly be 

 in a .40-90-500 of ordinary weight and length— a 

 change in the balance of the gun from shot to shot might 

 cause irregular deflection of the bullet. T. S. Van Dyke. 

 California. 



Wdiior Forest and 8til 



I notice a correspondent iu your issue of Dec. 27, advocates 

 a 12-bore rifls for shooting grizzly bears. In India, double 

 rifles of this caliber are very much used for dangerous game, 

 though lately the .577-ca'libcr express, a very powerful 

 weapon of about the same weight, has come into favor, and 

 has to a great extent superseded the lighter 12-bores, having 

 a greater muzzle Velocity and flatter trajectory, with great 

 penetration and smashing power when used with solid 

 bullets. Its charge varies from five to seven drams, and 

 the usual hollow-fronted ball is 480 grains, but some are 50 

 or 60 grains heavier. The usual weight of the rifle is from 

 10 to 12 pounds. 



The 12-bores built during the last few years, being mostly 

 ■intended as special rifles for use against very dangerous 

 game, have been made as powerful as this caliber and the 

 powers of endurance of the sportsmen will allow, and carry 

 from six to eight drams powder with a spherical ball. 

 They weigh from tl to 13 pounds, and if fitted with anti- 

 recoil heel-plates, their recoil is not inconvenient. They 

 can also take a short blunt-poiutcd conical bullet, which is 

 generally of hardened lead when great penetration is required, 

 as in the case of tough-skinned or heavy-boned animals, 

 but as this ball is heavier than the spherical, a little less 

 powder has to be used. Explosive shells are also sometimes 

 used; a bullet of this caliber can take a good charge of ex- 

 plosive powder, which is generally composed of chlorate of 

 potash and sulphate of antimony in equal parts by weight, 

 the ingredients being ground into powder separately and 

 mixeddry, a little at time, with the feather of a quill on a 

 clean plate or piece of glass. Explosive bullets loaded with 

 this mixture are perfectly safe to carry about and will stand 

 rough handling without- "danger. Any hollow-pointed bullet 

 ean'be made explosive by being filled with this mixture, the 

 mouth being closed with wax. 



Another variety of explosive bullet which carries a heavier 

 explosive charge, is used in India; it carries the explosive in 

 a copper core, which is held in position in the mold, on the 

 bullet being cast, by the plunger, the withdrawal of which 

 leaves a hole by which the explosive can be introduced — this 

 hole is closed with wax or a shot pellet jammed iu. Bottle- 

 shaped cores are used for conical bullets, and spherical cores 

 for spherical bullets, which are generally used with smooth- 

 bore shotguns. 



Opinion varies a good deal among Indiau sportsmen as to 

 the efficacy of these explosive balls. They are apt to ex- 

 plode at or near the surface of an animal's body or on a bone 

 just under the skin, where they do not, of course, prove fatal, 

 but when they penetrate well before exploding, they are 

 very deadly. 



Your correspondent's remark as to the incorrect sighting 

 of English express rifles is very true, though it does not ap- 

 ply to"" the rifles turned out by the best makers. The high 

 shooting of some English rifles at medium sporting ranges, 

 though no doubt sometimes caused by an attempt to obtain 

 an apparently long flat trajectory, is also due to the fact that 

 some makers sight their rifles for the aim to be taken with 

 the bead of the fore sight below the object instead of on it. This 

 can be remedied by cutting the notch of the back sight deeper 

 or by having the fore sight raised. These points should be 

 attended to in ordering a rifle. Another very common fault 

 of double rifles of the cheaper makes is that the two barrels 

 do not shoot exactly alike with the same sight, one some- 

 times throws higher or lower than the otheiC and this is a 

 very bad fault. Sometimes the shots from the two barrels 

 cross one another, the right barrel usually throwing to the 

 left and the left barrel to the right of the "object fired at; this 

 is not such a grave fault, but rifles can be made to shoot ex- 

 actly alike with both barrels at all sporting ranges if enough 

 trouble is taken by the makers in adjusting the barrels. This 

 putting together the barrels correctly takes time and labor, 

 and is the chief reason for the great cost of good double rifles. 

 Double rifles should have back action locks; bar locks re- 

 quire the action to be much cut away and weakened to allow 

 the main spring to be fitted. For heavy charges a double 

 grip lever under the guard, with some good kind of top ras- 

 teniug in addition, is the best; the strain on the breech of a 

 double rifle is much greater than in a shotgun. There is no 

 doubt that a good double large bore rifle is the best weapon 

 yet known for large and dangerous game. 



Bengal Sepoy. 



London, England. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I can readily understand why "W. N. B." should have 

 such a prejudice against the present spiral spring magazine 

 amis, or those arms with a magazine that permits the point 

 of one bullet to rest agaiust the primer of the one next in 

 front. His experience is but the repetition of many others 

 with the addition of frequent premature explosions caused 

 by the point of the bullet striking the primer in front. 



While seeking an effective arm, we should not lose sight 

 af the fact that the first thing to be considered in a repeat- 

 ing arm is the safety of the magazine. It should be so con- 

 structed that the points of the bullets caunot strike the 

 primer of the cartridge in front, either from the recoil or 

 jostling on horseback. Unless your magazine is so con- 

 structed you are in danger from premature explosions; 

 also the points of the bullets are so jammed that it is 

 not possible to make a target with them, and in this 

 jammed conditiSn are liable to stop the working of 

 the arm by sticking the chamber or co r ner block 



There is but one repeating arm that embodies all the points 

 required in a safe repeater, and that is the Chaffee-Keece 

 repeating arm, winch is now being manufactured at the Na- 

 tional Armory, Springfield. Mass., by the Government for 

 trial by the troops iu the field. This is a .45-70-500, and has 

 successfully passed through all the trials and tests that could 

 be invented by an ingenious board of officers. The maga- 

 zine of this arm is so constructed that each cartridge is held 

 separate from the other by notched bar's, and so locked that 

 it is impossible for one cartridge to strike against the cue in 

 front of it from any cause whatever. This not only makes 

 the arm safe but it also preserves the shape of the bullet and 

 renders it suitable for target practice. If the zinc -pointed 

 bullet suggested by Gen. Jacobs, of the Honorable East 

 India Company's service, should be called into use, of all 



the magazine guns now before the public the Chaffee-Reece 

 would be the only one that could safely use them. 



The great objection to a .40-90 repeater is the length of 

 cartridge it would require. A .40-caliber straight shell with 

 90 grains powder and a bullet crimped in, as in the Govern- 

 ment cartridge, would be 3.40 inches in length or .52 iucli 

 longer than the entire length of the Government cartridge; 

 the front end of the bullet projecting .60 inch beyond the 

 end of the shell would give us a cartridge 4 inches long, 

 which would be 1.12 inches longer than the Goverment cart- 

 ridge. 



This cartridge could be made shorter by the use. of a bottle- 

 shaped shell: but this is a thine of the past, it having been 

 tried by the Government and long-range shooter* and dis- 

 carded; the straight shell is better for accurate shooting. 



A repeating arm with the lever system for the use of the 

 Government .45 caliber cartridge 2.56 inches long, required 

 the receiver to be about 10 inches long. To use the .40-90 

 cartridge would add 1.40 inches to the length of cartridge, 

 which of necessity would increase the length of the receiver, 

 which would look to be about as long as the barrel, also re- 

 quiring the lever to describe two-thirds of a circle to extract 

 the shell and place a new cartridge in the chamber. 



The change to a .40-90 repeater seems to have been sug- 

 gested for the purpose of getting greater range and penetra- 

 tion. For the benefit of those interested iu rifle shooting I 

 desire to say that a ,45-oaiiber 500 grain bullet with a charge 

 of 80 grains of Hazard's F. G. powder, shot from a 32-inch 

 barrel, will reach a target at a distance of 3,500 yards and 

 kill. This is the record made by R. T. Hare, Government 

 expert, While experimenting at Sandy Hook, N. J., to deter- 

 mine the extreme range of the Springfield and Martini-Henry 

 rifles and carbines with their ammunition. The extreme 

 range of the Martini-Henry rifle was found to be 3,200 yards; 

 at a distance of 3,500 yards the 500-grain bullet went through 

 the target, which was made of three thicknesses of one-inch 

 spruce boards, and down into the sand on the beach eight 

 inches. Is this not range and penetration enough to satisfy 

 anyone? To shoot this distance the angle of elevation was 

 about 22°, the height of trajectory for the Mai tini-Henry 

 at a distance of 3,200 yards with its 480-grain bullet was 

 2,700 feet, and for the Government 500-grain bullet at 3,500 

 yards about 2.800 feet. 



A repeating or magazine arm is not only required to be a 

 rapid repeater, but it must be a rapid single-shooter, admit- 

 ting that the lever repeating magazine guns are rapid repeat- 

 ers. At the same time we must admit that they are very 

 slow single-shooters. The bolt magazine guns are the fastest 

 single -shooters and they arc very rapid repeaters, the Chaf- 

 fee-Reece 'being able to fire eight shots iu five seconds. The 

 bolt system is conceded to be much stronger than the level- 

 system. The repeating arm that is bound to win is the one 

 that has a safe magazine. J. 



Springfield, 111. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I concur fully with your correspondent "W. IS". B." in 

 his views respecting the relative merits of the magazine and 

 hand breech-loading rifle. The fewer the parts and less 

 intricate the apparatus, whether it be a watch or a gun, the 

 less liable it is to derangement. Safety, efficiency and sim- 

 plicity constitute, in my opinion, the chief esseutials in the 

 mechanism of the arrangement for loading at the breech, 

 and these I think are fully embraced in the"Remington rifle. 

 But in the communications which have so far appeared upon 

 the subject of sporting rifles, the fact appears to be ignored, 

 if not entirely lost sight of, that the grizzly bear and Apache 

 Indians are not the game of this country. There are few 

 sportsmen who have either the opportunity or inclination to 

 indulge in an encounter with that kind of game, and for 

 strictly sporting purposes the necessity of an arm of large 

 caliber and extreme range with heavy charges of powder 

 and lead may be regarded as exceptional. The essentials 

 for convenient loading at the breech being attained, abso- 

 lute reliability in the accurate shooting at what, in the pres- 

 ent target practice is called short range, must be afforded to 

 give any value whatever to the improved rifle over the 

 muzzle-loader for ordinary sporting purposes. 



Thirty years ago with a muzzle-loading rifle made by 

 James Doherty, of Petersburg, Va., I placed twelve shots 

 successively in a one-inch bullseye at eighty yards with 

 a standing rest, the shots forming one hole vertically across 

 the center. At 200 yards, with a reclining rest, I could put 

 all of my shots in a two-inch bullseye. This was the extreme 

 limit iu distance of my target practice at that day. The. 

 twist in this rifle inci eased from the breech to the muzzle; 

 the bore was about .38-caliber and was loaded with a round 

 ball and linen patch. From 200 to 300 yards every ball 

 ought to be shot inside of a 2-inch circle. A hunter of tact 

 can always get within that distance of his game, and a round 

 ball of .38-caliber is ample, if putiu the right place, to bring- 

 down the hardiest buck. Has the increasing twist been 

 applied to auy of our breech-loaders for imparting the rotary 

 motion gradually to the ball as it leaves the gun, and has the 

 round ball been tried for distances up to 300 yards in breech- 

 loading rifles? There would be less powder required, less 

 concussion and greater steadiness would ensue, and I think 

 less liability to deflection with the round than with the elon- 

 gated ball, it being more likely to preserve its rotary motion 

 around the axis of its direction. I am making some experi- 

 ments with a Remington .32-ealiber to test the relative ac- 

 curacy of the round and elongated ball at fiom one to 200 

 yards, and would like to know if any conclusive facts in 

 this respect, and in regard to the adaptation of the increas- 

 ing twist to breechloaders, have been already gathered by 

 our rifle make and rifle shots. H. H. 



Pennsacola, Fla. 



Kansas. — Independence, Jan. 20. — Editor Forest and 

 Stream: Having been a constant reader of your valuable 

 paper since the first of 1876. I thought 1 might venture to 

 write you a word of the sporting prospects here. Chickens 

 or pinnated grouse are here in some numbers, but the greedy 

 market hunter and the prairie fires have very much lessened 

 their numbers, though good shooting may be had in season 

 within a day's drive of our town. "Bob Whites" are in 

 abundance on every hand. I have known a party of two to 

 go out for a three days' shoot and come in with 206 birds 

 and 9 chickens. Bags of 40 and 50 birds are quite frequent 

 among the practical shooters. The great opportunity here 

 for sport is south, in the Indian Nation, where there is 

 abundance of deer and turkey, besides small game, but the 

 Indian is getting quite jealous of having his game destroyed, 

 so that the sportsman is liable to get into trouble unless he 

 has native friends with him. — Judge. ["Judge" can 

 hardly blame the Indians for resenting the encroachment of 

 game trespassers on their reservation.] 



